Saints, Brees have one week to get deal done

The window for the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees signing a long-term deal closes as of 4:00 p.m. ET on Monday, July 16. Thereafter, the Saints and Brees can’t do anything more than a one-year deal until after the final game of the 2012 regular season. As a result, Mike Triplette of the New Orleans Times-Picayune accurately explains that “[i]t will be the biggest upset of the NFL season” if a deal doesn’t get done.

Triplette likewise accurately says that “[o]nly an absurd amount of stubbornness could get in the way now.”

That said, it’s safe to say that an absurd amount of stubbornness already has unfolded. Otherwise, the Saints and the most important player in franchise history never would have gotten to this point.

Still, the absurd stubbornness meter would need to be renumbered if the Saints and Brees can’t work this one out. The gap between player and team was, as of last Tuesday, smaller than believed. The only thing that could keep the two circles of the Venn diagram from planting a peck on their respective cheeks would be a spike in Brees’ demands, fueled by last week’s ruling that he’d be entitled to $23.57 million under the franchise tag in 2013.

The Saints could never devote that much cap space (nearly 20 percent) to one player, and no one player could reasonably demand for himself nearly one-fifth of the entire annual pie.

Of course, this means that the Saints likely wouldn’t use the tag on Brees in 2013, and that he’d hit the open market next March. A year after creating a major stir by taking an injured franchise quarterback to free agency, agent Tom Condon may be tempted to play this one out. Even if Brees ultimately stays with the Saints, he could make a lot more money over the long haul by getting through the 2012 season unscathed, during which time he’d make more than $1 million per game.

The odds continue to point to a deal getting done within the next week. Of course, the odds as of a year ago would have pointed to a deal getting done long before this week.

Am I the only one who is getting tired of the GOOD OLE BOY Brees talking a big game about all he cares about is playing football yet has still not come to a long-term contract? No player is worth the money he is wanting, stand strong Loomis, dont give in to him.

I hope Tom Benson does exactly what Drew Brees is doing which is looking out for himself.
If Brees doesn’t accept what the Saints have offered then so be it, he plays under the franchise tag and then the Saints can slap an exclusive transition tag on him and get compensation if/when he leaves.

Brees is not worth all this aggravation IMO, good riddance Drew.

chazzmon says:Jul 9, 2012 2:49 PM

Unless the Saints rally around all the mishap with an us against the world mentality they could be in for a very long year.

It’s already the biggest disappointment of the off-season that a deal hasn’t been done….and I’m not even a Saints fan.

Brees is a future Hall-of-Famer who helped build that franchise from nothing. I’m not saying he deserves the same contract as Peyton Manning, but he’s not that far behind the contract Tom Brady received.

And we Saints fans are tired of listening to folks lament about how they are sick and tired of Saints related articles, yet…..they post comments on every single article. “Thou do protest far too much”.

Brees owns more records than Brady or Manning. he is the REIGNING QB champ in yards. He brought the lowly Saints a Superbowl and has been an unbelievable citizen to the Gulf region. The pathetic hate for him that I see on this site is really laughable. It just goes to show how invested fans of other teams were in having the Saints as a doormat, a team they could regularly count on for a win. Then, when they started whipping other teams the indignation was pathetic, almost childish. I am especially confused by people saying he is being greedy and siding with an owner, Tom Benson, who is worth billions and actually threatened to move the Saints to San Antonio to get more money. This bounty thing provided people with the opportunity to trash Brees for support his team mates, but we all know its all about jealousy. I hope he racks up the largest pay-day in NFL history, and that he wins 5 more Superbowls. He deserves it.

cannonballdookie says:Jul 9, 2012 3:40 PM

I can’t wait until the season starts and this annoying story dies. Please just sign him to a contract already so he shuts up.

The New Orleans Saints and Tim Tebow have been shoved down our throats in the offseason, and I hope the season begins and these two stories begin to fade.